The Atlantic: ME! Is Everything Wrong With Pop

[Sorcerer 12,507]

It does open with a Reputation callback, in the form of Swift singing with the same ethereal vocal effect she used on her lovely single “Delicate.” This probably means Swift is working her story lines, hinting at a continuation of the “Delicate” meet-cute that was presumed to be about her current boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. This musical touch is the last personal note from Swift, who used to be known for small, concrete details of remarkable economy. In “ME!,” she sticks to highly generic scenes of phone fights, rain fights, and rainbows under which no one fights. The most memorable lyric comes when she shouts “Spelling is fun!” and then declines to spell out anything.

The only thing Swift reveals with this song is that she really, really wants a hit. The kind of hit whose royalty payments will be as sturdy and long-lasting as an oak planted in one’s front yard. The kind of hit that will play in Gymboree classes and cruise-line commercials until a meteor hits Earth. Quantization, the studio-software practice of aligning beats to a rigid grid as to nix any human variation, appears to have been used as not just a production tool but an art ethos. A marching beat creates fascistic order; the verses call to mind a ball bouncing across a sing-along screen. Every phrase’s conclusion is triple-underlined by blunt multitracking, as if the listener would otherwise miss the slant rhyme of rain and name.

The song is less of a selfie than the title suggests, and it’s too bad. Swift’s cry of individuality has the air of vintage–Katy Perry empowerment-core, and though there is a Swiftian theme of embattled love, it’s buffed of any details. Amid all the “cool chicks” and “lame guys,” there’s only one “me” and “you,” and the song declines to specify any attributes to those two individuals, allowing everyone to plug in. And it barely makes sense: How rare is “a rainbow with all of the colors” anyway? The real message might just be that catchiness is an end in itself. The “you” that’s uniquely you-oo-oo is as susceptible to brain hijacking by melodic math as anyone else. Check your cabinets, because it feels as though all the world’s salt has been turned to Splenda.

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/04/taylor-swift-me-song-review/588118/

Wow this song is actually getting panned. 

[Cyber Babylon 2,774]

[fivefoottwo 3,108]

25 minutes ago, LabCoatDude said:

The most memorable lyric comes when she shouts “Spelling is fun!” and then declines to spell out anything.

[steel 715]

Well, this is an interesting dynamic.

Madonna’s Medellin is praised by the critics and fails in the charts.

Taylor’s Me! is panned by the critics but will do amazing for sure in the charts.

My conclusion is that we basically need Gaga to come and save pop culture, and give us an iconic bop that will do well with the critics and in the charts. 

[River 116,875]

I wouldn't be surprise if the critics are sabotaging her now after she signed the new contract, I mean it's not worst than any other song that was released in the last years

[LordEnigma 11,313]

1 minute ago, River said:

I wouldn't be surprise if the critics are sabotaging her now after she signed the new contract, I mean it's not worst than any other song that was released in the last years

Or maybe it’s just not that great of a song?

[brownie 5]

2 minutes ago, River said:

I wouldn't be surprise if the critics are sabotaging her now after she signed the new contract, I mean it's not worst than any other song that was released in the last years

You're right, it's MUCH worse

[River 116,875]

Just now, Alexander Levi said:

Or maybe it’s just not that great of a song?

sure, it's not, but they are too harsh on her.. "everything wrong with pop" I mean come on, they praised Closer.. this was everything wrong with pop

[StreamDelicate 296]

My biggest gripe is that the song is very lazy. Rhyming me with me, you with you, "You can't spell awesome without me"  Hopefully the album is more introspective than this bc this is NOT the material a 30 year old whose been in the industry for over a decade should be putting out

[Zombiecat 16,678]

26 minutes ago, River said:

sure, it's not, but they are too harsh on her.. "everything wrong with pop" I mean come on, they praised Closer.. this was everything wrong with pop

Closer really isn't that bad  this kind of.. is.. imo

cringe level 100

[River 116,875]

13 minutes ago, Unbeweavable said:

Closer really isn't that bad  this kind of.. is.. imo

cringe level 100

The song is cringy and childish and i don't like it at all but it's not the worst thing to happen to pop music, I can name so many successful song that were praised and they are much worst.. they are exaggerating for no reason, it's really to push her down..

[doppelganger 3,933]

Me! Is God’s way of punishing me for hating on Ava Max. At least that girl makes catchy,  boppable pop songs. 

[uo111 5,261]

1 hour ago, River said:

sure, it's not, but they are too harsh on her.. "everything wrong with pop" I mean come on, they praised Closer.. this was everything wrong with pop

I cannot believe I am going to say this about a Taylor Swift song, but even Closer is better than this.

[gumzy3000 7,318]

I like the song and video but people are digging way too deep into it all. 

[Guest]

Omg another I’m the authority on what good music is “journalist.” Wow do these articles pull the hate out in fan groups. I will admit that the songs content is... basic to say the least but I genuinely like the song, I mean is Katy Perry’s “Firework” any better? Not really, especially when you think of the time it came out in when the trend was self empowerment. There’s tons of songs that are made just to be catchy yet y’all like those including the horrifying “Closer” but yeah, Taylor’s song is everything wrong with pop. 👌🏻